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Monday, November 11, 2013

Is a Juice Cleanse Good for Me?

OK...I totally copy and pasted this article off the web. I think there is good information here and there is a juice recipe I eventually want to try. The only thing is that I don't own a juicer.

Is a Juice Cleanse Good for Me?

A detoxed system! A flatter stomach! These are just a
couple of the big benefits that supposedly come with cleanses. Find out
if they really deliver.By Kate Parnham; Emily McKennaAfter
a particularly indulgent week (or season or year), the idea of doing a
cleanse might seem appealing: Consume nothing but juices for a few days
and—presto!—you're healthier. According to the companies who sell
cleansing drinks, their regimens can help you fit into your jeans, boost
your mental clarity, improve the state of your skin, regulate
digestion, and, most important, remove toxins from your system—which is
the key, they claim, to well-being.

Toxins, explainedEvery
day, we take in chemicals from our food (like colorants and
preservatives), water (like chlorine), and air (like carbon monoxide).
"Toxins can build up in the body, causing inflammation and a weakened
immune system," says Susan Blum, M.D., the founder and director of the
Blum Center for Health, an integrative medical facility in Rye Brook,
New York. "This may make us more susceptible to chronic illness, such as
headaches, arthritis, and asthma, not to mention heart disease and
cancer." Our liver, kidneys, and colon are designed to filter and expel
waste and toxins, but cleanse enthusiasts believe the hazards of modern
life are too much for these organs to handle completely.

The theory behind cleansesIt's
pretty simple: You replace all meals and snacks with juices made from
(preferably organic) fruits and vegetables for about three to seven
days. The idea is that when our bodies are freed from the burden of
digesting solid food, they can more efficiently release the toxins
swimming in our system. But while experts agree that juices contain many
nutrients, "a special three-day cleanse won't magically improve your
body's natural waste-removal system," says Christine L. Frissora, a
gastroenterologist at New York–Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical
Center, in New York City. In fact, "we cleanse all the time if we eat
properly, because that enables our bodies to function optimally," says
Joel Fuhrman, a family physician in Flemington, New Jersey, and the
author of Eat to Live (Little, Brown and Company).

What about weight loss?You
are likely to lose weight if you go on a cleansing regimen. "However,
most of it is water weight," says Marissa Lippert, a registered
dietitian in New York City. When you eat whole foods, especially
carbohydrates such as breads and grains, your body needs to hold on to
water to digest them properly. Take away the food and the water
disappears, too, which can translate to a drop on the scale. The
problem: When you begin eating solids again, the water may come right
back, leaving you where you started. What's more, for some people, the
restrictive nature of a cleanse can cause carbohydrate and sugar
cravings, "making it easy to spiral back into not-so-great eating habits
once you complete it," says Lippert.

Possible pitfallsFor
most people, a short-term cleanse isn't dangerous; it just might make
you tired and headachy (and hungry). But experts don't recommend
cleanses for those who have certain medical conditions or are taking
some prescription drugs. "Patients on medication to control blood
pressure could faint if their blood pressure drops too low while on a
cleanse," says Fuhrman. People on blood-sugar or diabetes medication
could feel dizzy or faint, says Lippert. And it goes without saying that
cleanses are off-limits to children and to women who are pregnant or
breast-feeding.

The bottom line"For good
health, we need to not only reduce our exposure to toxins but also
supply the body with the nutrients it requires," says Blum. It's fine if
you want to jump on the juice bandwagon: Juices can be an easy way to
get in your greens, for instance, without having to eat fistfuls of kale
(see recipe below). But juices should be just one part of a balanced
diet that includes minimally processed foods, good-quality lean protein,
and plenty of whole fruits and vegetables—which, ironically, are the
real cleansers. "They act like a scrub brush for your digestive tract,"
says Lippert. And while a cleanse could feel like a psychological
jump-start to healthy eating, it's not the solution for long-term
wellness. Simply put, "being healthy is a lifestyle," says Ann Louise
Gittleman, Ph.D., a certified nutrition specialist in Post Falls, Idaho,
and the author of The Fat Flush Plan (McGraw-Hill). "It's not a
one-time, three-day event."

Feed the cucumber, celery, kale, apple, parsley, and lemon into a juicer. Discard the solids.

The
information contained herein represents the opinions of a third party
and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Mercer HR Services,
LLC or MMC Securities Corp. and are unaffiliated with any of the
entities referenced above.